We call on our organization’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) everyday to support our sales meetings, customer briefings, and organizational “lunch and learns.” It just makes sense. They can introduce the finer points of a new product, help a customer more effectively adopt a solution or inform the organization about new processes.

A few years ago, I was conducting a dry run of a new virtual workshop for a client. The client team had agonized over the slide design, visuals, and color choices. The end result was beautiful and they loved their slide deck. About mid-way through the dry run, the head of marketing stopped me. In an aggravated tone, he said, "With all that typing and uneven highlighting on the slides, you are making our slides look messy and unattractive."

One thing I know is that being a technical expert on a virtual learning platform will not make you a good virtual classroom facilitator. The key is listener engagement. But a recent experience made me question whether the technical platform is more critical than we think.